Kongregate’s Top Five Free Games

We asked Game Informer's sister site Kongregate, a game portal with thousands of free games, to help us navigate their sea of browser games and tell us what’s new and fun to play. So every two weeks we’ll post five new games that the experts at Kongregate are playing and why they recommend them, in their words. This batch covers a wide swath of genres, including platformers, puzzle games, RPGs, and collectable-card games. See you again in two weeks.

Look at your pants. They could probably be fancier, don’t you think? Fortunately, the third installment in the widely popular Fancy Pants Adventure series is out now. The king has gotten himself into some trouble. Angry bathtub pirates have made off with the Royal Tub, and it’ll take someone with the cunning of a ninja to defeat them. That’s where you come in. Slide, jump, and run your way through colorful landscapes. Backflip, even! Be sure to crush the baddies and collect the squiggles, and Sonic won’t have anything on you. You’ll love the open world and all its secrets, and it’s that much cooler when you’re listening to the game’s retro soundtrack.

Monsters’ Den ChroniclesWhen was the last time you had a good slog through a dark, dank dungeon? Fortunately the third Monsters’ Den game is out, and ready to provide you with all the creepy, crawly, nasty things you need to get your dungeon on. When you choose your party of four, you’ll be asked to choose from 10 different specialized classes, so you can pick the perfect party for your playing style. What’s more, each class has different skill trees to advance over time, and even different modes of fighting within a single battle. Strategize to use these skills, your enemies’ weaknesses, and even the terrain around you to defeat the most tenacious of foes. The level of customization is mind-boggling, and will definitely be welcome to the seasoned RPG player. As always, there’s lots of loot! The deeper you go, the more there will be. Complete in-game achievements to gain access to the best items in the game.

Save ToshiThis game is a favorite of everyone on the Kongregate staff. We’re all fans of physics puzzles, but Save Toshi is addictive in a way that not a lot of other puzzles are. While Toshi is a very sweet girl who loves to dance, the game begins when she realizes she forgot how to walk. Fortunately, you’ll be able to manipulate her environment by shooting the blocks around and/or under her. Succeed by dropping her, shoving her, or otherwise propelling her towards the dance floor so she can get her groove on. The game is in 3D, and the added dimension makes the whole thing much more interesting and difficult. The controls are smooth and intuitive, and Toshi makes really funny noises when you end up dunking her in the water. There are 40 levels; see if you can get three (or more!) stars on all of them.

Kingdom RushYou may have heard of this game, particularly since it’s the pretty much the best defense game on the interwebs since Desktop Tower Defense. The mechanics should be very familiar to defense fans: keep the creeps away from your base with a wide array of upgradable units. But what really distinguishes this game is the fantastic character design and animation, and the twists it brings to the well-loved genre. For instance, many levels provide you with new units that are exclusive to that level, giving each level its own benefits and difficulties. Plus, one of those units is a yeti, so you can’t really go wrong there. If you can’t get enough (which is likely), check out the two different challenge modes. You won’t be able to use any of your upgrades, but that just means that if you beat challenge mode you’re pretty much the king of Kingdom Rush.

Clash of the DragonsThis game breathes new life into the collectible card genre, since not only is your deck your army – it’s also your life. That’s right! You lose life each time you use up a card and when they’re gone, so are you. It sounds intimidating, but it adds a layer of depth to gameplay without being impossible for first-timers. You can build your arsenal by winning cards from battle, but you can also actually craft your own rare cards from ingredients you acquire along the way. Of course there’s PVP, but there’s also coop play so you can team up with your friends to take on huge monsters. Borrow your friends’ decks, or put them all in a big pile for draft battles! If you like cards and you like multiplayer, this game is a must since the possibilities are endless.

Clicking on each game's title will take you straight to their respective homes. To save your mouse wheel a little work, we've got the complete list of games below.